Romans chapter 8 and let's read
verse 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. to them who are the called according
to his purpose. We know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Every time I am reminded of this
verse of scripture, I settle down. Every time. There are a lot of
things that are keying me up right now. Different things.
Different things. We have a big old building out
sitting out there. That's a big old building out
there. We have brethren going through
some real trials. And every single time, I've preached
from this many times, and each time I'll make some kind of statement
to say this is like a revelation all over again, and it really
is. Every time I'm reminded of this verse of scripture, I settle
down. I settle down. I stopped looking
to myself and I start looking to my God again, every time I stopped thinking that circumstances
are in my control or are in another sinful, weak, helpless, foolish
sinners control. You know, we think with all these
things happening, well, are they gonna allow us to do this? Yes,
if God purposes for them to do that, yeah, they're gonna allow
us to do that. If not, that wasn't His will. That wasn't His purpose. Is my brother or my sister gonna
be okay? Yes. If that's the will of God,
yes. If not, it's not His will. When this verse of scripture
comes back to me, I stopped thinking that everything's fallen apart.
Well, it was okay, but it seems like it's fallen apart. And I'm
reminded of the fact that everything is being beautifully organized by the perfect design, by the
sovereign power and the sovereign authority of the God who holds all things
in his hand and only does right, only does right. And every time
I enter into that again, I settle down. A believer needs this verse
every day. A believer needs this verse every
day. We know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to this
purpose, his purpose. Now this message tonight is for
believers. That's who the message is for.
It's for God's children, God's people who right now believe
on him. or who will eventually believe
on Him through the preaching of the truth of His Word. Those
who have been called to Christ. That's who this is for. Those
who have been called to Christ. It's for those who are being
called to Christ. And it's for those who will be
called to Christ. God's people. God's people. Verse 28 says, we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God. God, not to them that love religion, not to them that love self-righteous
works, to them that love God. Not the idea of God. When you
first read a scripture like this, you think, well, everybody loves
God. Everybody? No, no, no. No, not the idea
of God. Not just some form of God. Not most of what is declared
about God. You've heard people say, well,
I believe most of that. Not most. To them that love God. And if we do, it's by the grace
of God. To them that love God, not a
God that's trying to be God or hoping to be God or can only
be God if you allow Him to be God. To them that love God. I mean, if you want some peace
and you want to really settle down, the only way it will come
is by seeing again God. I mean, God, the sovereign God,
the controller of all things, the one who is working all things
after the council of his own will and none can stop him or
saying to him, what do is thou God? Nothing brings comfort to
a child of God like seeing God, nothing. Verse 28 says, and we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called, not to them who made their decision. Not to them who dedicated or
rededicated their life, them that are called, called by God,
summonsed by God, commanded to come and they come. I was studying
over all this this afternoon and I was just, once again, it
just encourages me so much to know that salvation is not of
Gabe Stoniker. I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MUCH THAT
COMFORTS ME. SALVATION'S OF THE LORD. AND HE'S GONNA USE HIS
WORD. NOT THE VESSEL. THE WORD. THE WORD IS GONNA GO GET HIS
PEOPLE AND THEY'RE GONNA BE SUMMONED. THEY'RE GONNA BE COMMANDED TO
COME AND THEY'RE GOING TO COME. THEY'RE ALL GOING TO COME. Selected, drafted, drawn people. And verse 28 says, it's all according
to His purpose. Not by accident. Not by surprise
to God. Well, look who's coming to me.
Look who's coming to me to have me be His savior. Not by surprise
to God. Boy, I never would have thought
he would have come, but here not by surprise to God. All according
to his purpose. That's who this message is to
God's people. All right. Now this is what the
message is. Verse 28 says, all things work together for good. That's amazing. All things work
together for good. Now, the reason why this message
is for God's people and only for God's people is because for
every soul that the Father did not choose to save, every soul
that the Son, Christ Jesus the Lord, did not shed His blood
for, Every soul that the Spirit has
not called and quickened to a knowledge of Christ. Every soul that has
not been substituted, substituted for, made intercession
for. Every sinner that has not seen
the truth of who Christ is and what he's done. What that means
is for every soul that God leaves alone, if God just leaves a soul
alone in the natural condition of that soul's sin, not one thing
in that soul's life, not one thing in that person's life will
in the end bring good to that person. Not one thing. Not one thing. Everything that
that person has done will amount to nothing. Everything that person has accumulated
will amount to nothing. It'll all come to naught, nothing. Naked that person came into this
world, naked that person will go out. And everything in the
eyes of man that seems like it would have brought good in the
end, it's only gonna be to that person's condemnation. It's only
gonna bring condemnation. Outside of Christ, what man thinks
will bring good in the end, those very things will be to his condemnation. But for every soul that God intervenes
for, every soul that Christ intercedes for, Every soul that has been
placed in Christ. Not only is there, as verse 1
says in this chapter, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Not only is there no condemnation,
but along with that, every single thing that happens in that person's
life that has any contact or any connection with that person,
It's only going to bring good to that person and to the entire
family of God. Now, I want to point out that
the word good, when you look up the definition of that word
good, as it's used here, it does not mean ease of life. It doesn't mean the most desirable
outcome to the flesh, the one that the flesh would naturally
choose and prefer. Verse 28 is not saying all things
work together for the preferred lifestyle of the flesh. Good doesn't mean what we perceive
to be good. He's not saying you just hang
in there, you'll have your way in the end. He's not saying that
at all. That's not what good means. Good means the benefit. It means wellness. All things work together for
the benefit and the wellness of the soul. Not necessarily
the benefit and the wellness of the body, but most necessarily
the benefit and the wellness of the soul. And here's what I want us to
get a hold of. Everything that happens is worth that. Everything that happens. If in
the end, something brings benefit and wellness to the soul, then
it's good. It's good. And all who receive
it, they're gonna cry, thank God. Whatever it is. In the end,
they will cry, thank God, it's good. Turn with me if you would
to Psalm 103. Psalm 103, verse 1, it says,
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless
His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His good. That's what good means, benefit,
His benefits. Verse 3 says, Who forgiveth all
thine iniquities. Everything in the life of a believer
is working together according to God's purpose to bring that
believer to His forgiveness who is a person. Everything, every single thing
that happens in the life of a child of God is bringing that child
to Christ. Here's the goal of life. Coming
to Christ. Being brought to Christ. The forgiveness that a child
already has in Christ. And that's what the child is
notified of when he receives Christ. You are complete. You are forgiven. In the blood
of Christ. Every single thing that happens.
is for the purpose of bringing God's children. And it's not
just for the one it's happening to, it's for all of God's people
somehow. And I say everything that's happening
in the person's life because they're so, they affect us so
greatly. But the truth is every single
thing that happens, period, every single thing that happens, FOR
THE ETERNAL SPIRITUAL BENEFIT AND WELLNESS, THE WELL-BEING
OF GOD'S PEOPLE. EVERYTHING IS SOMEHOW IN CONNECTION
WITH BRINGING GOD'S PEOPLE TO CHRIST. PSALM 103, VERSE 1 SAYS,
BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL, AND ALL THAT IS WITHIN ME, BLESS
HIS HOLY NAME. BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL, AND
FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS, WHO FORGIVETH ALL THINE INIQUITIES. who healeth all thy diseases,
who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with
good, good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.
The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are
oppressed. That's the life of them that
love God on this earth. They're oppressed. It appears as though to the natural
eye that no benefit at all is coming to them. If you just looked
at God's people through the natural eye, you would think no benefit
at all is coming. They're not the benefited ones,
but verse seven says he made known his ways unto Moses. His
acts unto the children of Israel. Think about the story of Moses.
The Pharaoh of Egypt decreed that all male children were to
be done away with. Moses' parents had to put him
in that little boat that they made, stick him down in the river,
and shove him off. Can't imagine. Can't imagine. Somebody would see that and think,
oh, that's bad. If we had to do that, Moses was
a real man on planet earth with a real set of parents, a real
family. And if we had to do that now,
if something happened and we had to do that now, you'd think
this is so bad. This is so bad. No, no. That turned out to be good. That
turned out to be the benefit and well-being of God's people. It was the very means that God
used to deliver them out of the bondage of Egypt. They all went
out rejoicing. Really think about the story
of Joseph. Just think about the story of Joseph, sold into slavery
by his brothers. Taken from his family. You know
he missed his family. His family missed him. Thrown
into prison. That's terrible. No, that's the
very means that God chose to use to feed and nourish and sustain
his people through that great famine. In the end, God made
Joseph to be the keeper of the storehouse. That would have never
happened had those means not been carried out. Those seemingly
horrible means. Think about Job. Everything that
man lost. Think about Daniel, Shadrach,
Meshach, Abednego. Can you imagine going through
what those men went through? The lion's den? The fiery furnace? How did it work out for all of
them in the end? All of them. Think about our Lord. Everything
they did to him while he was suffering on the cross. Can't
you imagine all the believers back then and in that very day
while he was enduring that, can't you see all of them saying, this
is so bad. It's just so bad. No, this is glory to God in the
highest. This is the greatest good God
could have ever shown. No greater benefit. Think about
that, what he had to endure. No greater well-being could have
ever come than through the very means that God ordained on purpose
to bring it about. Now, this message is to believers,
all right? Believer. How are things with you? How
are things going with you? How you doing? How's everybody doing? Anything
sorrowful happening in your life? Anything fearful happening in
your life? Anything bringing you pain? Are you at all afraid of what
tomorrow might bring? I am. In my flesh, I am. Are there any circumstances,
anything that's happened in your life that causes you to question
what the outcome of it's going to be with worry? I wonder what
the outcome of all this is gonna be. If you trust Christ, IF GOD HAS
CAUSED YOU TO BE ONE OF THE ONES WHO TRUST CHRIST, AND I MEAN
REALLY TRUST CHRIST, THEN READ VERSE 8 RIGHT HERE, PSALM 103,
VERSE 8. IT SAYS, THE LORD IS MERCIFUL
AND GRACIOUS, SLOW TO ANGER AND PLENTEOUS IN MERCY. HE WILL NOT
ALWAYS CHIDE, NEITHER WILL HE KEEP HIS ANGER FOREVER. He hath
not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth
our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. HE REMEMBERS. NOW, IN JOHN 16, OUR LORD SAID,
IT'S EXPEDIENT THAT I GO AWAY SO THAT I CAN SEND THE COMFORTER
TO YOU. MY HOLY SPIRIT, THE SPIRIT OF
CHRIST, HE SAID, I'M GOING TO SEND HIM TO YOU AND HE IS GOING
TO COMFORT YOUR HEART. AND HERE'S HOW HE DOES IT. IF
YOU'LL GO WITH ME BACK TO In verse 14, Paul began telling
us that the Spirit would lead us, and He would bring us to God,
and He would tell us of everything that we have as children of the
Father and joint heirs with Christ. He would bear witness to us and
do all of these things for us. But look at verse 26. It says, In addition to all those things,
likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For we know
not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the spirit because he maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God. Now, I tell you
from time to time that I am praying for you and I am, I really am,
I do. But if you're a believer that
has been caused to trust Christ, Let me tell you this. God is
praying for you. And that's just. We read, we sang here just a
minute ago, just listen to the words of this song. The father
hears him pray. His dear anointed one. He cannot
turn away. the presence of His Son, the
Spirit of Christ. The Spirit answers to the blood
and tells me I am born of God and tells me I'm born of God.
Five bleeding wounds He bears, received on Calvary. They pour
effectual prayers. They strongly plead for me. Forgive Him, O forgive, they
cry, nor let that ransom sinner die. IF HE HAS NOT REWARDED US
AFTER OUR INIQUITIES, IF HE HAS FORGIVEN ALL OF OUR SIN, HE KNOWS
YOUR FRAME. HE KNOWS YOU ARE DUST. HE KNOWS
WHERE YOU ARE. HE KNOWS YOU HAVE NEED OF ALL
THESE THINGS. HE KNOWS MORE OF WHAT YOU NEED
THAN YOU DO. AND ALL OF THESE THINGS WILL
BE TAKEN CARE OF. ALL OF THESE THINGS WILL BE TAKEN
CARE OF. THE SPIRIT POURS EFFECTUAL PRAYERS
TO GOD ON BEHALF OF ALL OF HIS PEOPLE. IF GOD IS MAKING INTERCESSION
TO HIMSELF ON YOUR BEHALF WITH GROANINGS WHICH CANNOT BE UTTERED,
THEY ARE GROANINGS THAT STEM FROM THE CROSS, THOSE FIVE BLEEDING
WOUNDS HE BEARS. If God is praying for you, everything's
going to be fine. It's going to be better than
fine. It's going to be good. It's going to be good. Nothing but benefit and well-being
will come from it. Just trust Christ. All right, I'm speaking to myself.
I'm speaking to you. This is the conclusion of this
whole message. This is the title of the message.
Just trust Christ. And everything that he will remind
us to, we're seeking his will. We're begging for his leadership
and guidance. We want his way, don't we? Not
my will, but thine be done. Just trust Christ. Just trust Him. Whatever it is,
whatever circumstance is causing sorrow, fear, pain, anxiety,
worry, whatever thing it is, just trust Christ in it. He started
it. He's doing it. He'll finish it. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. A believer needs that verse of
scripture every single day, every day. Just trust Christ from our
eternal salvation all the way down to the next step we take
and the next breath of air we breathe. Everything that happens
from this moment until we go see Him face to face, we're just
saying face to face. Everything that happens, just
trust Christ. If He has loved us, if He loves
us, and He says He does, and if He has had mercy on us,
then everything that happens to us is according to His purpose,
and it's only going to bring good. I think I need to change
the title of this to Gabe Stoniker, Just Trust Christ. May he let
us do that. All right, let's all stand together.